PLANS for a housing complex on part of the huge Storthes Hall site will be unveiled next week.

Developers plan a series of public meetings to outline their proposals for a retirement community alongside the University of Huddersfield campus.

Dozens of retirement bungalows would be built along with community facilities.

And the developers have stressed that the new homes would be built in the areas previously occupied by the former mental hospital.

The university sold off a large part of the site it does not require for student accommodation.

It has kept sports facilities which are used by Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield Giants.

Now developers David Storrie Associates are to hold three public meetings, in Kirkburton and Highburton, to let local people know of the plans.

They propose a self-contained retirement community on the former hospital site.

The exact number of retirement homes on the site has yet to be confirmed but they will be one and two-bedroom bungalows aimed at people aged 60 or over.

The development is likely to follow the model pioneered by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation at Hartrigg Oaks in York, with landscaped gardens and a modern, state-of-the-art care centre - based in the existing clock tower building on the hospital site.

A spokesman for the firm said: "The community has been carefully designed to create minimal visual impact. The new buildings are confined to the area previously occupied by the former hospital buildings.

"The surrounding woodland, recognised as some of the most beautiful in Huddersfield, would remain untouched, with the recreational benefits maintained."

The meetings next week will unveil sketch layouts of the development as well as traffic assessments.